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charles rosen tells the story of hearing a famous pianist race through a chopin nocturne. he turned to his companion in the audience and asked, "why is he playing it that fast?" his companion answered: "because he can't play it any faster."

in my review of jeremy denk's recording, i briefly explain how glenn gould launched the use of the "goldberg" as a virtuoso showpiece, and how this usage detracts from the musical value of the performance. sherpkin's vainglorious effort clocks in at less than 72 minutes -- 2 minutes *faster* than denk's -- and is only a rattling, hammering, blistering marathon of scurry and flurry -- except for the slow minor key variations, which are played laughably slow. (the so called "black pearl" variation, no.25, takes a full 8-1/2 minutes, which suggests "stitico" as the tempo indication.) the self congratulatory liner notes, oozing admiration for gould, confirmed my immediate reaction -- that this is merely a overwrought and derivative conception.

liszt, who always new how to impress the coarsest members of an audience, would sometimes play a virtuoso piece with a lit cigar held between the third and fourth fingers of his right hand. well, give schepkin a cigar ... obviously, if he could have made this debut performance any more of a shallow and self serving advertisement, he would have done so.

I have more than twenty-five recordings of the Goldberg Variations, most of them with pianists. Like many of my generation Glenn Gould's 1950s release hit me like a bomb; I was bitten and have never looked back. I was a little surprised that this release by Sergey Schepkin hasn't received more attention here at Amazon; up to now it's only had two short reviews. It is, however, one of my favorite versions and so I want to sing its praises a bit.Schepkin, I believe now a faculty member at the University of Iowa, was a Bostonian at the time of recording this, his first CD. He has since gone on to record more Bach (WTC-II, the Partitas, French Suites) as well as Debussy and Schnittke. I remember how impressed I was when this came out in 1995. I had earlier been disappointed (and still am) with the 1994 Goldbergs by his countryman, Vladimir Feltsman, and yet their approach has some similarities. For one thing, they both do a fair amount of ornamenting, primarily in the repeats. But there they part company. Feltsman's ornaments feel plastered on, and they aren't terribly elegant. Schepkin's on the other hand are organic, feel spontaneous (who knows, maybe they are!), and are by and large true to baroque style.Further Schepkin's variation in tone and easy control of phrasing leaves Feltsman in the dust. This is a musician first and foremost, not just a technician. I've felt the same way about his Well Tempered Clavier and Partitas. At the time of this recording he was still studying with Russell Sherman, not a pianist particularly noted for playing Bach as far as I know, but one can hear some of Sherman's kind of intellect combined with an occasional appealing waywardness.As to particular high spots for me in this recording I'd point to the repeats of the Aria, a dancing Var. 2, the sturdily forthright Var. 4, the flowing Canon alla Terza (Var. 9), the inward Var. 13 (gorgeous tone), the sprightly Var. 18 (Canon alla Sexta) with a charming octave displacement in the repeats, the elegant Var. 19 gavotte, the quietly anguished Var. 25, a jolly Quodlibet.I reach for this performance as often as any I own. Heartily recommended.TT=71:53Scott Morrison

This is the greatest recording of the Goldbergs I've ever heard (and I've heard many: Gould, Rosen, Feltsman, Tureck, Schiff, Lifschitz, etc.). Schepkin plays with just incredible panache, plasticity, and spontaneity, seemingly re-creating the work rather than merely giving it another run-through. But at the same time, he doesn't distort the music in any way or get in its way--that kind of balancing act makes for the magic of a great performance. The ornaments Schepkin adds fit in perfectly and are an authentic part of the period's style, and the way he differentiates the repeats makes the variations that much more exciting. On top of that, he's one of the few people to play this work whose dexterity truly is in Gould's league. But you don't get any extraneous noises here to distract from the performance--and you do get all the repeats.Schepkin was a pupil of Grigory Sokolov (perhaps the world's greatest living pianist--wish he'd make some more recordings!), and he belongs to the great tradition of Russian pianism. This debut disc, even more than his excellent later Bach recordings, is a real knock-out. I've bought copies for many of my friends, and all of them have been deeply impressed by this recording.

Okay, to admit that both of Glenn Gould's recordings of the Goldberg have a vertiginous ectasy about them--performed with a jaw-dropping pianism and surgeon-like articulation. If one is looking for a penultimate version of the Goldberg, indulge in one of the Gouldian versions first. (The 1955 version is my personal favorite but the one recorded for CBS Masterworks 27 years later is also quite special) But this version...wow, wow and thrice wow! Schepkin is definitely in the same realm as Gould. There is none of the typical sloppy keyboard work camouflaged with heavy pedalling, no ponderous Liberace-esque galumphing and histrionics. Exceptional talent and ability speak for themselves and is made evident without all the marketing and fluff--all the tangential and extraneous dramatugy that tries to make the mediocre seem larger than it really is. If you are someone loves the Goldberg and enjoys the aesthetic delineations that come from listening to different versions of the same recording, then I strongely urge you to partake of Sergey Schepkin's magisterial talent. You will not be disappointed.